An FourWeekMBA 분석은 머스크의 Blackwell 120만 개를 가동하려면 약 2.2GW의 전력이 필요할 것으로 추산한다.

Elon Musk wrote on X on 31 October that there will be "a total of around 1.2M Blackwells at Colossus 2 by end of year." If all of them sat in GB300 NVL72 racks at HPE's published specification, they would draw about 2.2 GW of rack power, by our arithmetic, before cooling. That is about 1.8 times the 1.2 GW of self-generating capacity that Mississippi permitted xAI in March, according to DatacenterDynamics.

**What Musk Posted**

Musk's post was a reply to the account @XFreeze. On 31 October he also named four Colossus 2 buildings holding about 860,000 GB300s between them, as we reported in "Musk Says Colossus 2 Will Hold 1.2M Blackwells by Year-End." The post had about 1.19 million views by Sunday evening, 1 November.

On 1 November, Chamath Palihapitiya quoted Musk's post and wrote: "Power is THE binding constraint in AI/SI. Few really have it." He added: "Solving power allows you to disproportionately shape AI/SI right now." We set his argument against company filings in "Chamath Calls Power AI's Limit; Filings Fold It Into Chips."

**The Rack Arithmetic**

HPE's QuickSpecs for its version of the rack, dated 8 September 2026, say the system holds "72 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs" and that "The rack's TDP (thermal design power) is 132 kW nominal with an EDPp (electrical design power – peak) of approximately 155 kW."

Dividing 1.2 million GPUs by 72 gives about 16,700 racks, by our arithmetic. At 132 kW each, that is about 2.2 GW. At the 155 kW peak, it is about 2.58 GW.

HPE also writes that it "suggests that data centers should provision their bus ways to be able to support 192 kW EDPp." Provisioned at that level, the same racks would need about 3.2 GW of electrical capacity, by our arithmetic.

**What xAI Has Permitted**

DatacenterDynamics reported on 11 March that "xAI has received permission to install 41 natural gas turbines at a site in Mississippi that will generate 1.2GW to power its data centers in the area."

The report says the turbines, at a former Duke Energy plant site in Southaven, "will be used to power xAI's Colossus 2 data center" and "will also supply power to the firm's upcoming Colossus 3 data center in Mississippi." xAI said on X that it was "thrilled that MDEQ approved our permanent construction permit unlocking 1.2GW of self-generating power capacity."

The court's 30 October order listed at least 27 turbines on the Southaven site as of 7 April, with a combined capacity of 495 MW, a figure we calculated in our earlier coverage of the NAACP suit.

**The Structural Read**

As we read the figures together, the GPU count Musk posted implies a power need larger than the gas capacity xAI has permitted on site, and that permit is shared with a second data center. HPE's QuickSpecs put a GB300 NVL72 rack at 72 Blackwell Ultra GPUs and 132 kW nominal, so 1.2 million GPUs means about 16,700 racks, by our arithmetic. DatacenterDynamics' March report ties the 1.2 GW permit to 41 gas turbines in Southaven that serve Colossus 2 and the upcoming Colossus 3. The court's 30 October order, as we calculated earlier, shows at least 27 turbines with 495 MW of capacity on the site as of 7 April.

**Implications**

For xAI's power plans, the rack power for 1.2M GB300-class GPUs is about 2.2 GW by our arithmetic, against 1.2 GW of permitted on-site gas, a permit that also serves Colossus 3.

For data center designers, HPE suggests provisioning bus ways for 192 kW per rack. At that level, the same racks would need about 3.2 GW, by our arithmetic.

For the power debate, Palihapitiya, quoting Musk's post, wrote that power is THE binding constraint in AI. The figures above put numbers on that claim for one campus.

**The Business Engineer Lens**

This story maps onto the Business Engineer framework "The State of AI Data Centers." The framework says: "Companies that solve the power equation will dominate the AI era; those that don't will watch their chips sit idle."

As we read it, Musk's GPU count and xAI's permitted gas capacity are the two sides of that power equation for one campus. The framework predates Musk's post and does not discuss Colossus 2.

**What Is Not Established**

Musk's post gives a GPU count, not a power figure, and in the sources we reviewed, xAI has not published Colossus 2's total power draw. Our 2.2 GW assumes every GPU sits in a GB300 NVL72 rack at HPE's published figures. Colossus 2 also runs GB200s, as Musk wrote in September, and their racks differ. The figures are rack power only, before cooling and other facility overhead. We did not size xAI's grid supply, so the 1.8 times comparison covers only the permitted on-site gas capacity.

**The Bottom Line**

Musk wrote that Colossus 2 will hold around 1.2 million Blackwells by year-end. At HPE's published GB300 NVL72 specification, that is about 16,700 racks and about 2.2 GW of rack power by our arithmetic, roughly 1.8 times the 1.2 GW of on-site gas generation Mississippi permitted xAI in March.

A note on sourcing: the GPU count is Elon Musk's own post. The power figures are our arithmetic on HPE's published GB300 NVL72 rack specification and assume every GPU sits in such a rack. The 1.2 GW permit is as reported by DatacenterDynamics. Neither Musk nor xAI has published Colossus 2's total power draw in the sources we reviewed.

Sources: Elon Musk on X, 31 October 2026; HPE, "NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 by HPE" QuickSpecs, Version 3, 8 September 2026.